


Second Chances Don't Get ReFunds

by hiimnew



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Awesome Phil Coulson, Child Abuse, Evil Howard Stark, Female Tony Stark, Foster Care, Getting to Know Each Other, Hurt Tony, Hurt/Comfort, I'll think of more later, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, It Gets Worse, Protective Team, Protectiveness, Suicidal Thoughts, Team as Family, Triggers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-25 18:42:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21360898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiimnew/pseuds/hiimnew
Summary: Toni learns the hard way that when death gives you a second chance at life that you don't get a refund no matter how hard life tries to give you back maybe it's more than a guardian angel watching over her. One day at a time Toni will learn to move forward and this time she won't be so alone with new friends to pick her up along side the old ones who have always held her up.TRIGGER WARNING UNSURE HOW TO TAG THEM THOUGH SORRY
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Second chances aren't refundable

I'm the kind of girl no on would go looking for. I know it, it's not news to me. Father has finally decided to kill me which is why i'm currently dying the middle of the some dense forest as rain pours down on me, he made sure no one could love me or yearn for me. Mother is gone, she's laying in the same forest I am only we're a few years apart. I'm so cold and numb I can't even feel the pain anymore or feel the cold that drenches me body, I'm so close to dying and i'm okay with that. It's dark now, it was light when I was brought here wearing a white night gown. His men stood watch as Father laid me on the ground before stabbing me over and over again in the chest hoping to hit my heart, I blacked out at some point and he thought I was dead, I am not. My night gown is soaked in rain and blood now, cut by the knife just like my body under it. I can't see anymore, I can't speak, I can't taste the blood anymore and I can barely hear though it doesn't matter much now anyway since i'm dying. I can feel my life draining away, it's like a literal pull as my soul is being ripped from my body slowly. Tonight is the night when I finally understand why people fear the silence because it's deafening and cold. It's like a literal weight crushing my body further into the forest floor making sure I don't think about trying to live anymore and to just except my fate, I'm ready for it. I've been waiting for death for a long time. I knew this was going to happen, I was ready for it, I could tell that he was going to kill me since the beatings stopped. He's left me in pristine condition minus the stab wounds that now litter my chest, made sure I looked good even had my hair and make up done before he took me too the woods. Bare foot, long curly dark hair, sun kissed skin, freckles, bambi eyes, white night gown, and only sixteen.

My name is Antonia Stark and i'm sixteen. My father is a man named Howard Stark and he rules this modern world. My mother is Maria Carbonell and she was my safety net. About five hours ago my father had the house staff do my hair and make up before he puts me in a white night gown and put me in a car. With him and some of his men we drove for a long time before we reached a dense huge forest and got out and began to walk. We walked for quite a ways before he stops us and pulls a knife from his jacket and i'm not surprised instead i'm ready for it. Ready to die, and dying I am. Not long now I tell myself feeling the last little bit of my life slip away when suddenly someone intervenes and with the little hearing ability I have left I hear people calling my name. Not long after the voices get closer and while I can't see I can see the change as a flash light is shone on me. I don't know what happens next. I was sure I had died. 

I didn't die.

The world comes back to me slowly like i'm emerging from under water as sound and feeling and hearing come back to me getting louder the more wake I am even if my body isn't ready just yet, my mind is awake. I know it's a hospital by the sounds and smells around me, I feel warm and something tight is placed around my chest and something is on my face. After about an hour I manage to peel my eyes open only to shut them against the bright light and then slowly open them this time as I get used to the light something I haven't in a while I suppose. Eyes open I can see the white ceiling as lights shine down on me, the window to my right has the blinds open, i'm in a bed covered in blankets and wire that connect to my skin and into my hands and arms. I don't know the day, the time, the month, how long I was out, what happened after I slipped away that night, what about my father and his men. I have many questions. My body doesn't want to move I notice when I try to lift my hand only a slight twitch in my fingers happens when I try, I can feel everything though and the pain is muted by the pain medication i'm being given I suppose. I listen for a few minutes until someone enters the room quietly not knowing i'm awake until she comes closer and sees my eyes focus on her, she nearly drops the charts as she scrambles out of the room yelling something. She's followed by a doctor and a few more nurses as two police like looking men enter as well as they check me over and ask me question that I could nod or shake my head for. Somewhere along the lines I fall back asleep and for once it's by choice and it's not filled with terrors and horrible memories, this time I dream of nothing.

It was nice.

The next time Toni wakes up it's the next morning somewhat early and some one is sitting at her bed side writing something in a file, Toni wants to sit up a bit her chest hurts and her stomach is turning. Slowly and like a robot without oil she manages to inch her fingers towards the bed remote and lift the head of the bed enough for the symptoms to ease giving her a breath of relief for the time being at least. This man is now looking at her professional and careful like he's done this a lot before making sure to not make a lot of eyes contact and keeping calm making sure she doesn't feel trapped. 

"Hello Antonia, i'm Phil Coulson. May I shake your hand?" Phil asks her softly with a smile

"Hello" Toni manages to get out 

Phil moves slowly gently holding her fingers with a slight squeeze before retracting his hand again.

"Where's my father?" Toni manages to get out

"In custody" Phil tells her

"What's going to happen now then?" Toni asks him taking the offered ice chips

"Well as part of our program steps you'll be placed in a foster home and you'll be going to counselling, be a part of his trial, go to school and we'll see what happens after that" Phil explains to her

"I have lawyer" Toni tells him

"You do? Who is it?" Phil asks her a little surprised picking up his pen

"Jennifer Walters. That's my lawyer" Toni says as he writes down the name

"That's good to know" Phil says thinking now

He leaves awhile later leaving Toni alone in the room and it's nice, she'll be able to go home in a week or so since she was out for a week before she woke up and since it's not as bad as they thought with care and regular check ups she should be fine to be discharged. The days pass and Toni doesn't ask anymore question not caring what happens to her now and finally on the day of her discharge Jennifer shows up holding a large back pack looking imposing in her doorway. Jennifer is tall nearly pushing six feet and well built with hard toned muscles on a coke bottle shaped body with long wavy black hair and earthy green eyes, she's wearing a white long sleeve under a black pencil skirt and wearing a pair of black stiletto pumps. Toni can feel tears slip down her cheeks as her bottom lip quivers at the sight of her as she sits on the side of the bed wearing a hospital gown and that strong facade breaks down and Jennifer runs to her side quickly wrapping her up in a hug as Toni pressed her face into the woman's stomach hands gripping tightly to the back of the shirt. They stay there for awhile before Toni calms down and pulls back to wipe away the tears as Jennifer pets her head and tells her comforting things until she's ready to get changed into the clothes Jennifer had brought her to wear. Toni pulls on the black leggings, a red sports bra under a loose dark red tee, a oversized white hoodie and a pair of gold converse high tops before tying her hair into a lazy messy high pony tail and follows Jennifer out where she signs some papers before taking Toni to her black jeep.

In the car Jennifer sets the back pack down in the back seat among a few other duffel bags she cranking the heat as Toni pulls her knees up to her chest to rest her chin on as Jennifer pulls out and they start driving and after a while she guesses they are heading to some sort of police station. So she was surprised to seat a big government like building with the logo SHIELD on it before Jennifer pulls into the under ground parking where she cuts the engine and they get out, Jennifer takes her hand as Toni nibbles in the other sleeve cuff anxious not sure what's happening and too scared to ask. After they enter the elevator Jennifer pulls her to her side wrapping an arm around her waist letting Toni lean on her before they step out onto on of the top floors and walk down a hall passing a conference room with glass walls so you could see in and a group of people around her age seem to be hanging out but she doesn't linger as Jennifer leads her past it. They come up on a office where a plate on the door reads DIRECTOR NICHOLAS FURY and after a short knock they enter and Toni finds the man Phil from earlier sitting there waiting and a tall dark man missing an eye behind the desk in a big chair. Toni finds herself curling into Jennifer's side more making the woman rub soothing circles into her side before taking her to sit down on a couch and thankfully sits down with her too and as they start talking Toni kind of zones out.

"Toni, Phil is going to take you in along side some others until I can find a permanent place for you okay?" Jennifer says making sure Toni is looking at her 

"Okay, i'll call you everyday" Jennifer says when Toni nods before kissing her forehead and getting up

"Bye" Toni says with a little wave as Jennifer leaves to go get her bags

"Why don't you come meet the others" Phil says standing up with a small smile

"K" Toni says getting up wincing a little as she does so

"Do you have anything for the pain?" Phil asks as he holds the door open for her

"Jenny would know" Toni mumbles back to chewing on her sleeve cuff

"I'll make sure to talk to her before she heads off then" Phil says as they start walking down the hall

"In here" Phil says opening the door to the conference room from earlier

"Finally, Phil what was-" A blond teen says before cutting himself off as he sees a sliver of her from behind him

"Toni come closer" Phil coaxes reaching but not touching

"There she is" A voice purrs making Toni whip around scared 

"O-Obie" Toni stutters at the man who represents her father

"You're not allowed near her" Phil growls putting himself between them

"Oh but I am" Obie says with a creepy look on his face

"Nononononno" Toni says terrified as she slowly backs away fingers in her hair

"I'm here to take back my clients daughter" Obie snarls delighted 

"We got this Phil" A red haired girl says dashing from the room grabbing Toni's had and running away with her

"Suck it creep" The blond teen says giving him the finger following after the girls

"Try it" A tall brown haired boy snarls as the others follow

"If Howard looses her then she'll be mine" Obie whispers darkly leaning in close to Phil

"The fuck she will" Jennifer snarls coming out of nowhere punching him with a heavy fists nearly breaking his nose

"Ms. Walters" Phil says surprised by the power and the woman herself

"Maria made sure if anything happened to her or Toni that we'll be allowed to use a certain USB to make sure you both get death sentences" Jennifer says rolling her neck as she glares at him

"Or I could do it now" Jennifer says threatening him

"Okay then" Phil says stunned as Obie stalks off

"Ooh if I could Just" Jennifer says fingers curling like she wanted to strangle him

"I share that thought" Phil says glaring at the mans back

"Thank you and here are her bags, the back pack has her medication and appointments that sort of stuff oh and emergency numbers to call if anything happens or she needs to call them, uh everything you need to know about her and stuff is in there too and the rest are clothes and stuff like that. I need to go i'm late for a meeting and thanks for doing this" Jennifer rushes out for a giving him a quick smile and leaving in a hurry

Back with Toni and the group

"H-Hold on" Toni gasps face clearly in pain as she grips her chest

"Woah" The red haired girl says catching Toni as her legs give out

"Bruce" A tall blond says panicky 

"Toni right?" Bruce asks kneeling by her side eyes scanning her

"I need your sweater off" Bruce says quickly after Toni whispers something into his ear

"I'll help" Natasha says as they pull it over the girls head and sees blood soaking into her shirt

"That's not good" A dark skinned teen says at the blood

"Phil! we're by XXX and something is wrong with the girl" The short blond says into his cell

"Lay her down on her back" Bruce says as Toni slowly starts to pass out

"You could have said something!" The blond teen shouts into his phone panicked

"What's going on Clint?" Bruce asks him 

"She just got out the hospital she'd stabbed like over a dozen time in her fucking chest!" Clint shouts at him panicked

"'M fine" Toni mumbles out holding onto her consciousness 

"You are very clearly not" The red haired girl chides monotoned 

"'M good" Toni slurs slipping more as she breathing slows down

"We need an ambulance now!" Bruce shouts feeling her pulse

"Shitshitshit! Toni!" Natasha curses hands pressed to the girls chest trying to stop the bleeding 

Time passes as Toni surfaces enough to hear loud shouting before everything fades away over and over again for who knows how long before she feels her limp body being lifted and wrapped as something is placed on her face and that's when she passes out for good fully relaxing her body hoping this time death won't fuck it off. Apparently second chances don't have any refunds. The group watch as Phil and a team of paramedics rush down the hall with a gurney before they quickly take over moving Toni's limp body onto the gurney and strapped down as an oxygen mask is placed on her face. As the team rush off they can see her hands slip limply from the bed and hang off and that image is burned into their minds as one of the scariest things any of them have ever seen and they'd seen some shit but it was never this close or personal even if they never met the girl. She flat lines on the way to the emergency room and when they burst into the emergency room a paramedic is straddling her as he pumps on her chest keeping it beating long enough for the nurses and doctors to take over as they shout at each everything the other needs to know. Finding a 'room' they quickly transfer her to a bed and start the shock pads before ripping apart her shirt and placing them down, her body jerks as the paddles do their thing but no reaction, her body jerks a second time and finally a small beep and then another and another. The teams signs in relief before quickly jumping back in closing the curtain more tightly as they cut off the bandages wrapping her chest and start to work while a nurse sets up lines and transfusions while a second nurse assists the doctor in cleaning up and restitching the stab wounds.

"Second chances aren't refundable" A deep voice whispers in her ear only describable like smoke in audible form


	2. Wake up call once again

Toni surfaces and instantly feels disappointed that she didn't die and then she remembers the voice and would have sighed if she could it seems death came by personally to tell her since it didn't go so well last time but then against Toni is stubborn and she'll figure this out whether it's dying or not. God her chest hurts at least they fixed her up before letting her wake up but then again maybe days have passed again but that's for another time or later or fuck it she'll figure that out later when she manages to actually wake up since apparently her eyes are nailed shut. After a few minutes of trying Toni finally manages to open her eyes and the lights are off a quick hard glance shows her it's dark outside too so she slowly pulls her hand from her side to run across her chest feeling what she can't see which is cords and bandages just like before so maybe she didn't just tear open her stitches like she assumed. Then she remembers what happened probably earlier that day and sighs jeez that was bad but at least she knows Jennifer had taken care of Obie and he wouldn't be popping in like that again and Toni will damn well fight him if he does. Toni lifts the head of the bed until she's sitting up and pulls off her oxygen mask letting it hang around her neck and looks to find a clear bag of bloody clothes sitting on the empty chair by her bed and sighs before looking around some more and finds her phone on the bedside table. With great effort and pain Toni manages to grab the phone and gets comfortable before unlocking it greeted by a picture of her and her best friends, Toni smiles she remembers that day they had so much fun hanging out at Happy's but the amount of messages redirects her and she quickly answers back to her friends and their panicked texts. Seems Happy is due back from Japan next week, Pepper is flying in from Malibu tomorrow and Rodney's tour finishes next month she makes sure to ease him first knowing that he must be scared beyond belief for her. 

Eventually she lays back down the head of the bed and drifts off to sleep with pain medication keeping her in a dreamless sleep which she was grateful for. The next morning Toni wakes up to sun shining through her window and lifts the bed so sitting wouldn't be so awkward and tucks her hair behind her ears as she yawns before checking her messages smiling as she sees texts from her friends seem to be much better than the last time she checked them. By lunch Toni was getting bored and asks the nurse when she can leave and after wearing down the nurse she finally gets her answer, day after tomorrow, better than nothing so she waits and watches TV letting the nurses and doctors do their thing as they come and go. By dinner Phil pops in holding fast food which Toni perks up at and quickly accepts it with a smile eager for something besides hospital food and they talk.

"You gave us quite the scare yesterday" Phil says sitting back in his chair

"I really didn't think running would do that" Toni says gesturing to her chest covered in white bandages while the gown sits around her waist under the blankets as the nurse had just left

"You flat lined you know that" Phil says making her pause fingers hovering above a french fry

"I guess running will have to wait, good thing i'm not a track star" Toni says carefully as she pops the fry into her mouth

"Scared my kids have to death" Phil sighs running a hand through his blond hair

"Well almost dying in front of someone should have that affect" Toni hums but she doesn't look at him

"They're glad you're okay" Phil says 

"I'm glad that they are glad then" Toni tells him as her phone dings

"I need to get up" Toni rushes fixing her gown excited

"Woah hold on" Phil says pushing her gently back down as he moves away the table

"Pepper's here I have to go see her" Toni says looking outside her room

"Toni!" A voice calls as a girl roughly Toni's age runs into the room and crawls up on the bed to straddle the girls lap and hug her

"Pepper!" Toni says hugging the girl close arms tightly around the girls neck

"You fucking scared us" Pepper says pulling back with tears in her eyes

"I'm sorry" Toni laughs pulling her in for another big hug

"You are such an ass" Pepper laughs a little watery hand over her eyes

"You love my ass" Toni laughs making Pepper laugh for real in turn 

"You have a great ass" Pepper agrees laughing as Toni wiggles her eyebrows at her

"Pardon us for intruding" A laugh says making both girls look over as a group of teens stand in the door way

"I'm going to call Ms. Walters" Phil says before leaving as the group enter

The group decided to visit Toni and when they finally manage to get there they are just in time to find a girl sitting in Toni's lap legs wrapped around the other girls waist as she leans into the girls body laughing just catching the end of whatever they were saying which had caused them to be laughing. Toni looks good for someone in her position wearing a blue hospital gown and oxygen mask with dark long curls loose around her with her arms around the girls neck and her head laying on the other girls looking happier and relaxed than they thought she could be. The girl on her lap was like Toni same toned short hourglass body but her skin was milky white with a few orange freckles, long straight strawberry red hair, blue green eyes and wearing pink marble leggings and a pale pink crop hoodie and pink converse high tops are laying hazardously on the floor. This new girl has her head on Toni's shoulder with an arm around her shoulder and her free hand is covering part of her face seemingly to wipe up the tears but stopped when she started to laugh using it to push Toni's face away from hers playfully.

"Sorry come in sit" The new girl says moving to sit beside Toni as she waves them in

"Thanks" A tall blond says shyly

"Sorry again i'm Pepper" Pepper says introducing herself to them

"It's nice to meet you i'm Natasha" Toni recognizes her as the red hair girl from that day. She's taller than Toni and Pepper by a little but the same body as Pepper and similar skin too but she has short bright red curly hair and bright green eyes, she's wearing ripped black jeans with black combat boots and an oversized army green tee.

"This is Bruce" Bruce is taller than the girls by a small bit with a stockier strong build like Happy with a mop of light brown curly hair and hazel eyes behind glasses and pale skin, he's wearing cream chinos with green converse sneakers and a Hawaiian shirt. Toni also recognizes him from that day.

"Steve" Steve is tall like six foot at least and strong too built like a buff Dorito with styled short light blonde hair and blue eyes and perfect light skin, he's wearing light blue jeans with brown combat boots and a white tee with a green flannel around his waist. 

"Bucky" Bucky like Steve is tall and built like a buff Dorito but his left arm is replaced by a metal one and he has similar skin but shoulder length brown hair and nearly white blue eyes, he's wearing ripped black jeans with black combat boots and a black tee.

"Sam" Sam is shorter than the previous two and well built too but leaner and still among the taller of the group with dark skin and short black hair that match the black eyes he has, he's wearing grey joggers with red high tops and a red baseball shirt with three quarter sleeves. 

"And Clint" Clint is like Bruce same build, close in height and skin color but he has spiky short gold like blond hair and blue eyes, he's wearing army cargo shorts with purple converse sneakers and a white tee that seems a size too big for him. 

"How long have you known Toni for Pepper?" Steve asks as they get more comfortable

"How long? Shit like ten years I think" Pepper says looking at Toni who nods

"Sounds about right" Toni agrees with her

"How old are you anyway?" Clint asks earning him a smack on the head by Natasha "What!?"

"Hahaha that's okay i'm 17, Toni's 16" Pepper laughs at him making Toni look at her

"Excuse you, you're 16 and a half" Toni corrects hers making Pepper roll her eyes fondly

"So my age then" Natasha says with a small smile "I'm 17"

"Ooh me next i'm 17 and a half" Clint says with a huge grin

"Um i'm 18" Bruce adds a little nervously 

"Me too, oh and a half" Sam says smiling

"19 and he's 19 and a half" Steve says before pointing to Bucky

"Is it just me or do three of them remind you of Happy" Toni says to Pepper who gives her a pointed look

"It's a fair thought" Toni huffs looking away from her

"Whose Happy?" Sam asks with a huffed laugh

"So there is me, Toni, Happy whose actually Harry and Rodney whose actually James that makes up our circle of best friends" Pepper explains to them counting off with her fingers

"Two James huh" Sam says looking at Bucky

"Who reminds you of him?" Clint asks curios

"Good ahead" Pepper says waving her hand

"I will, so Clint you look like him but he's taller, bit stronger too and he's a mix of Sam and Bruce personality wise" Toni explains to him

"I agree that's pretty close" Pepper say nodding along

"Whose Rodney?" Sam asks now curios of the other

"Well my Honey-Bear is in the Air Force" Toni says pridefully with a bit of a swoon making her smile

"No kidding, so am I" Sam says getting a little excited

"You're on leave then?" Pepper says sitting up 

"Yeah, them too" Sam says pointing to Steve and Bucky

"Let me guess Army" Toni says with a smirk eyeing the two

"Good guess" Steve says with a little laugh

"Ooh that's Happy" Pepper says getting off the bed to answer it outside

"Tell him I want a present!" Toni shouts after her which earned her the middle finger

"Where is Happy?" Clint asks excited about this new person

"In Japan on a Tournament" Toni tells him "He'll be back next week"

"What kind?" Natasha asks curios Toni takes her for a true full blooded badass tom boy

"Boxing and on the side MMA" Toni says and the group get a feeling Toni's surrounds herself with strong people 

"Impressive" Natasha hums with a smile

"Should be he's the cruising weight IBF Champion of three years" Toni says with a great deal of pride and loving eyes

"Damn" Clint says eyes wide

"Fine but I told she has other company" Pepper says coming back in holding her phone

"I wanna see her" A deep soothing voice says

"Ooh gimme gimme" Toni says reaching for the phone with a huge grin

"Toni you brat" The voice says as she holds it up to her face meaning it's a video call

"Hey Happy" She laughs 

"Could you not give me a fucking heart attack as soon as I'm out of the country" Happy says lovingly annoyed

"But i'm adorable so forgive me" Toni coos acting it up 

"You fucking cute little shit" Happy laughs making Toni laugh 

"Happy come home soon and make sure you win" Toni tells him

"Like i'd loose" Happy huffs rolling his eyes

"And bring me back something" Toni pleads into the phone

"Like what?" Happy asks her with a smile and suspicious look

"You already know it" Toni says with a smirk on her face

"Yeah I do" Happy says shaking his head at her

"Want to meet my guests? I'm sure they'll be around when you come home" Toni says eyeing Clint whose almost bouncing in his chair and Natasha is looking almost excited too

"Okay, fine flip the phone around" Happy says giving in to her

"Happy meet Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Sam, Steve and Bucky" Toni says pointing to each one

The group can see a well built guy with short neat blond hair with the sides shaved and pale skin looking a little bruised but given what he's there for that's a given, it's held up so you can see most of him sitting on a hotel bed wearing black sweat pants and a white tee with some of his boxing gear laying around him and a grey zip up hoodie. 

"Holy shit, dude you are amazing" Clint says impressed just by what was said and how he does pose an intimidating figure

"Thanks" Happy laughs 

"It's nice to meet you" Bruce says with a small smile

"You too thanks for looking after this one" Happy says gesturing up at Toni 

"How did- Pepper!" Toni gasps looking at Pepper whose standing with her arms over her chest

"Of course I told him" Pepper says rolling her eyes

"We only did the right thing" Natasha says brushing it off

"Maybe but it saved her so really thank you" Happy says seriously with a small smile

"Anytime" Sam says with a smile

"Happy show them your belt" Toni says getting away from the topic

"I don't-" Happy starts to say

"I'd like to see it" Steve says with a reassuring smile

"Alright" Happy shrugs and slips off the bed

"That looks like a different one" Toni says as it shows part of one belt

"Nice belt" Clint says leaning closer

"They cleaned it up for me and it's changed a little too, also thanks I think so too" Happy says fondly as he shows off the belt closer up

"Happy relax you are amazing at what you do" Pepper laughs knowing he's worked so hard to get and keep the belt and it could all just be taken away in the next fight

"Thanks Pep" Happy laughs rolling his eyes

"It's late I gotta go. Nice meeting you all, Pepper I'll call later and Toni wait for me before you do anything stupid" Happy says before cutting the line before Toni could object

"That son of a bitch" Toni says laughing a little handing Pepper back her phone

"That doubles for me" Pepper says pinching Toni's ear

"And I bet triple for Rodney" Natasha points out

"Exactly" Pepper says with a smile

They chat for awhile more before the group leaves and both girls manage to convince the staff to let Pepper stay with her even bringing her in a hold out bed chair but when they finally get tired Pepper gets on the bed as Toni scootches over letting Pepper lay down next to her on her side so she can put an arm over Toni and shes lays her head on her shoulder. That's how the nurse finds them the next morning curled together with Toni mostly on her back and the blanket over them with Pepper's head on her shoulder and the arm over her friend is holding Toni's hand from that side as Toni's head rests on top of Peppers. The nurse smiles and picks up one of the girls phones to snap a picture before quietly and gently doing her job hoping neither girl wakes up and luckily when she leaves both are sleeping soundly as she closes the door behind her she feels better and pushes on to the next patient. When they wake up Pepper moves to a comfy chair so the doctors can do Toni's bandaging as she stretches and yawns while they talk to Toni for a bit as she goes on her phone quietly memorizing everything they say to repeat it to Toni later when she asks for it. Things move slowly and the week passes which meant Pepper had to go back for awhile it's a teary good bye filled with hugs and cheek kisses before Pepper finally has to leave to get into her cab that is gonna take her to the airport. Finally Toni gets to go home and gets changed into some clothes Pepper had brought her, she puts on the ripped light blue skinny jeans with gold converse high tops and a white crop top hoodie a size too big. She first puts her hair up into a high pony tail before she braids it and considers herself ready to go tucking her phone into her back pocket she leaves the room to find the room which she has coined Avengers for some reason beyond her already waiting for her and it makes her smile a little.

Toni lets the group walk her out and her eyes are instantly drawn to a parked black jeep and her heart squeezes as she scans around and then here he comes dressed in black jeans, timberlands and a grey hoodie from the other side of the jeep and she scream excitedly running over to him with a smile so big it actually hurts. He laughs and opens his arms as she jumps into them letting him lift her up in a huge bear hug as her legs wrap around him and after a moment she pulls back and has a good look before laughing and hugging him again she notes that he's gently make sure she doesn't hurt herself again.

"You gotta eat more Tones" Happy laughs noticing she had lost some weight

"Why didn't you tell me!?" Toni says slapping his shoulder but she can't stop smiling

"And ruin the surprise?" Happy says "No way this is so much better"

"You're here! oh" Clint says unsure how to react to seeing him there

"Nice to meet you in person" Happy says a huge perfect smile on his face as Toni slips off him but stays close

"You too" Natasha says with a smile impressed with the man closer to Steve and Bucky's stature 

"So?" Toni asks him with a grin

"Oh you mean this?" Happy says pulling out his IBF belt from the passenger side seat

"Told you" Toni purrs holding the belt

"Okay I hate to butt in but can I hold it?" Clint asks excited and in awe

"Go ahead" Happy says as Toni holds out the belt

"Dude this is so cool" Clint says holding the belt in his hands

"Gotta say man that's impressive" Sam says admiring the belt

"You're joking!? Where!?" Toni says looking at him after he whispers something in her ear

"Trunk" Happy says as she walks over and opens the truck

"Well played Happy" Toni says admiring whatever is in the trunk

"Let me see" Happy says looking over at her

Toni rolls her eyes at him and reaches in with both hands half disappearing into the trunk and pulls out a red and gold sword sheath with a matching red and gold bandaged hilt with two charms tied on like cell phone straps and pulling the sword free showing off a black ebony chokuto sword with gold lettering down the blade.

"Nice" Natasha whistles at the stunning blade

"It'll go with the others" Happy says 

"I do like a good red and gold theme" Toni says eyeing the swords wrapping

"Others?" Bruce asks

"Let's just say I have a large collection of weapons, runs in my blood" Toni says sheathing the sword

"By the way whose your dad?" Steve asks a little shyly for bringing up the topic

"My name is Antonia Stark, my father is the worlds biggest weapons creator and dealer Howard Stark" Toni say eyes cold chin lifted and chest puffed out looking very much like the photos of her father 

"Oh" Steve says a little stunned unsure how he should be reacting 

"I gotta go want me to drop if off at Jen's office?" Happy asks checking his phone

"Better, don't think it'd be a good first impression" Toni says placing the sword back into the trunk

"Right, later Tones" Happy says giving her a kiss on the cheek before getting in and driving off

"Now then I assume you're here to take me back with you to Agents?" Toni asks turning her attention to the group

"Good guess, let's go" Bruce says with a smile nodding to the parking lot

"Whatever you say doc, poster boy lead the way" Toni says 

"Oh Steve, man" Sam laughs turning to look at the flushed teen

"Okay" Natasha says smiling and rolling her eyes

"Come on" Steve grumbles heading for the parking lot

"Yes sir Mr. Captain America" Clint laughs with a lazy salute

Toni follows them ending up in one of the two cars with Natasha, Bruce and Sam while the others pilled into the other and they drove for quite a long time until they reach a more farmy area no longer like the city where they pull up to a big house which Toni assumes as Phil's with a nice big yard. Toni slowly follows the group in lingering back as they go off making themselves at home which is obvious since it is their home but she stays back unsure of her place and how things work here but it seems Phil had clued in since he gently takes her further into the house to a big open living room kitchen space. Seems a room was ready for her, pretty basic but her bags are there for her to put away and stuff and he had her pain meds giving her one right away which she accepts and washes it down with a glass of water as he goes over what she can and can't do to make sure she doesn't pull another near death stunt. Toni nods along before placing the glass down and verbally accepts the new boundaries with a roll of her eyes but she's still scared since he dad is a very powerful man and he had a lot of friends, okay not friends but something along those lines. Toni makes to her new room and finds her bags on a bed already made with a nice thick comforter and pillows, turning on the lights she closes the door behind her and begins setting up the room, clothes are put away, shoes are placed, things are put into drawers, charger is pulled in and a small heavy duty tablet is put away. Room down she sits down on the bed feeling out as she scans the room observing everything before noticing the window was closed but the curtains were open and she gets up to close them noticing a nice yard in the back. She ends up thinking about Rodney happy she'll be pretty much done with the whole stab thing since no way was she not giving him a crushing hug and never ever ever letting go, her thoughts are interrupted when a knock comes on her door and Bruce tells her dinner is ready before leaving. She sighs and gets up;

"Have a seat Toni" Phil says smiling nodding to the large table the others are sat around

"What should we do tomorrow?" Clint asks as she sits down next to Bruce being one of the last chairs

"Hmmm well it's almost summer so maybe we should go skating one last time at the rink" Sam ponders aloud as Phil sets down the last dish

"Or a movie?" Bruce suggests as they start to fill their plates

"Arcade?" Clint offers

"Why don't you hang around here tomorrow" Phil says setting a pate down in front of Toni who blinks at it for a moment

"I think that'd be nice" Steve says 

"Hang out, relax, i'm down" Natasha says 

After awhile Toni excuses herself leaving an almost full plate of food left before scurrying back to her room and closes the door behind her before letting the panic attack take over sinking onto her knees pressing her face into the comforter as her hands grip the blanket tightly to keep her from making any noise. It takes her awhile to finally calm down feeling drained she turns her face to breathe but stays slumped over the bed legs have curled loosely under her feeling her heart pound roughly in her chest painfully, the tears had dried leaving tracks and red eyes, shaking from exhaustion and no adrenaline. Back home before all this diners at her house wasn't really a thing, a tight portion control in a empty grand dining room under watchful eyes, dressed up and paraded during event diners not allowed to speak unless asked to, this was too much for her. She ends up getting lost in some very bad thoughts and memories before finally resurfacing to find the sun down and the clock reads nine at night, a quick message check and replies she gets up and changes into a pair of soft red pj shorts and a oversized white tee she had stolen from Rodney. Ready for bed Toni ties a pair of tights to each side of the bed before climbing in, from the nightstand drawer she pulls out a case and pops in a mouth guard before tying the tights to her wrists nice and cozy tight with a short range of motion and with the lights off she settles back under the blankets and lets sleep take her.

'It's dark, she's home in the library reading in one of the chairs from one of her fathers books, she can hear the shouting from somewhere else in the mansion meaning her mom had finally had enough for the day and barked back at her dad. It's never nice, mom comes back crying and hurt using Toni as a doll against her chest promising her things that would never come, like getting out of here and never looking back just the two of them. It's late when she's put to bed by her mother, far later than many children her age but it's not unusual for the Stark's. For some reason she wakes up a few hours later and walks into the hall pulled by something she walks until she gets to the study her father used and peeks into the room from the cracked open door. Inside her father kneeled over her mothers motionless body that was covered in blood as it pooled around her, her eyes were open and looking at the door one hand stretched out as if begging for help but Toni knew she was already dead her father made sure of that. In his hand a bloody knife gripped tightly as he looked crazed covered in splattered blood using it to smooth back his hair before he stands and tossing the knife down onto the ground beside her body making a small splash when it lands in the puddle of blood. Toni is frozen unable to look away or breathe she watches as he slowly looks up and over at the door and catches her eyes, she just stands there as he stalks over and roughly opens the door. Before she can reach her grabs her wrist painfully and drags her into the room before roughly grabbing her upper arms and shaking her violently as he screams in her face causing blood to splash on her as well before he stand and begins to pace around the room like a mad man. After a few minutes he rounds on her again and she feels her heart stop as he stalks over and slaps her hard across the face then shoves her to the floor and as she's just about to hit the blood-'

Toni wakes violently lurching up right scream muffled by the mouth guard that kept her teeth from smashing and grinding during these dreams, she's sweating and her eyes are wild as she looks around the room feeling the pull on her wrists that keep her from throwing herself as she wakes up. It takes her a few minutes to calm down enough to spit out the mouth guard and untie her wrists drawing her knees to her chest and hands in her hair pulling at her temples as she looks down at her knees trying to breathe properly and tries to push the memory away but it's fighting her back. Knowing she won't sleep again Toni pulls herself together after scrubs her face with both hands before tucking her hair behind her ears and reaches for her phone, unlocking it she plays around to pass the time and help push back the memories that keeping trying to stand front and center. After the sun has done most of it's rising Toni puts her phone away for a moment and peels off her shirt tossing it away and looks over the bandages covering her chest seeing a few areas spotted red from blood but the nurses and doctor said that would be normal. They didn't want to let her leave but she made it clear that it would be better to do this outside the hospital since she'd be more willing to make sure they heal and such, Toni's finger gently brushes over the spots before she sighs pull out a medical wipe and roll of bandages and moves to sit at the edge of her bed. A quick stretch and then Toni is unrolling the bandages on her chest tossing them into the little trash can by her bed and then quickly cleans up the varying ugly stitched up stab wounds looking like a bad attempt at a horror villain but moves on and redoes the bandages.

Toni ignores the pain as she gets up and moves to get a fresh set of clothes even if she didn't plan to leave her room today at all, still she puts on a pair of red and gold armor leggings and a loose white tee under a black hoodie she stole from Happy meaning it's too big on her tiny stature. Toni can now hear the others up and moving and it seems someone is cooking too but the smell makes her stomach roll and she ends up covering her nose with her sleeved hand as she eyes squint against the way it's making her feel, luckily for her she has a mask from her last trip to Japan. Toni slips on the black wolf teethed mask which did a good job at blocking out the smell, not perfect but good enough before tying up her hair in a messy loose high pony tail then grabs her tablet and gets comfortable on the bed before getting sucked into her work and photos. Besides her projects and stuff like that on it the tablet also held photos and inventory of her weapons collect being held in a storage unit under tight security for now, it's split equally into three parts of knives and swords, guns and melee weapons housing around eighty in total at the moment. It's hours later when someone finally knocks on her door though she can guess why it's taken so long after last night, Toni puts the tablet down on the bed beside and gets up to open the door to see Phil standing there with a glass of water, a pain killer, and a small breakfast with little to no smell. After a curios look on Toni's part she lets him in and he places the items down on the night stand before moving to the chair at the desk and sitting down as Toni closes the door part way and sits down on the bed before taking off the mask putting it down on the bed as well.

"Feeling better?" Phil asks as she takes the pain killer

"Used to this sort of thing huh?" Toni says without looking at him as she puts the glass back

"It's the reason I asked him to let me take you in" Phil says watching her with a smile as she picks up the plate

"Nicky's great" Toni agrees picking up the fork next

"That bad?" Phil asks seeing the mouth guard and tights used as restraints 

"Most of the time" Toni says eating a piece of fruit

"You're welcome to join us anytime" Phil says before leaving leaving the door open a crack

Toni stares for a moment before settling back and finishing off the breakfast which was mostly fruit with a little bit of oatmeal on the side, done she sets the dishes aside neatly stacked and picks back up the tablet this time connecting a pair of headphones she had made and turns on her Netflix account. She spends the day watching movies and working on her projects with Phil popping in to take dishes and leave her small meals along side a pain killer and glass of water, each time leaving the door open a crack and Toni allows it. A week has passed; a week of night terrors, a week of painful bandage changes, a week in a new place, a week of Phil slowly increasing his efforts in her food and door opening, a week of her settling in. Then she receives a phone call-


End file.
